Below is a persuasive essay, written by my 11 year old daughter, as an assignment in Language Arts. I thought it worthy of sharing.

Written by Sofia Karrat, 11 years old.

Article writer Kanika Khara said, “Since soda does no benefit to our body other than satiating our taste buds, and in fact causes considerable harm, it is better that we should make healthy choices about our diet.” Only some people agree with that statement saying soda is bad. However, most people think differently. Most people just drink soda and don’t care what’s going into their bodies. In my opinion, I believe soda is not good to drink. I believe we should stop drinking it, too.

First of all, soda can cause deadly diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Sugar is one of the main ingredients in soda. That is why we get these sicknesses, because sugar is one of the main reasons causing it. Once sugar is digested, it is turned into fat by the body. If you drink only one coke a day for a year, your body has stored 17 pounds of fat! Just in soda! There are recommended daily sugar amounts for men, women, and children. For men it’s 9 teaspoons (36 grams), for women it’s 5 teaspoons (20 grams), and for children it’s 3 teaspoons (12 grams). A can of soda has about 39 grams in sugar, so all people have already had more than their sugar amount for the day! Another ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. It also causes those diseases. High fructose corn syrup is sweeter than normal corn syrup. It is made with artificial sweeteners, and it makes the body store more fat. Soda also has other many bad ingredients, such as artificial sweeteners, caramel color, ester gum, Red 40, Yellow 5, and more. These ingredients hurt the body. This drink also dehydrates the body. Dehydration is when your body doesn’t have enough water and fluids as it should. When severe, dehydration can be a life-threatening emergency (but that’s very rare).

Secondly, nobody reads the nutrition labels and ingredients, and it’s one of the problems why America is getting sick. The nutrition label and ingredients are things most people don’t pay attention to. These are where health comes in. Things like sugar, and high fructose corn syrup are in the ingredients. The amounts of helpful and harmful contents are in the nutrition facts. It tells you the amount of everything in grams or milligrams. There are no vitamins, proteins, or fiber in soda. But, there is lots of caffeine. At first, caffeine supplies an instant boost of energy. But, that energy slowly wears off, and you may start experiencing headaches, sleepiness, and fatigue. Another thing that is noticed is the front of the can is “All Natural”. “All Natural” actually doesn’t mean anything. Companies put it on the can to look good. People think it means “All Good” and the ingredients are fresh.

My final reason for why to not drink soda is that one of the reasons people are drinking soda is because of celebrities advertising them. My mom is a health nut. There was a movie that came out, Fed Up, that my mom found out about right away. At first, I didn’t want to watch it. But, when I found out about why Americans are getting deadly sicknesses and diseases, I was glad I watched it. Sugar is why America is getting problems in health, such as diabetes, and it’s not ok for celebrities to make people want it more in soda. Celebrities such as Beyonce shouldn’t allow soda companies to put her on the can. Then kids get influenced by the ads, want to be like a celebrity, and drink soda. But people think,”Well, what’s the big deal? Everyone drinks it anyway.” It’s not a small problem, because some people don’t already drink soda so they start and get addicted to it. Also, people will just start increasing the amount they drink if celebrities advertise soda. I drink seltzer (which is just plain sparkling water), and it is a really good alternative if you drink soda.

My belief is that America should stop drinking so much soda. Soda can cause deadly diseases, nobody reads the labels, and celebrities are advertising it just to make people want it more. I don’t want to risk hurting my body for something that tastes good.

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